


code my love, soul born

by graveltotempo



Series: FRIDAY ex-machina [1]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Beware, Canonical Character Death, Civil War Team Iron Man, Dubious Morality, FRIDAY arrives during age of ultron, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) Lives, Light Angst, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Moral Dilemmas, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, One-Sided Attraction, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Salty Friday, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Unreliable Narrator, but pepper and tony were together, endgame Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, in edgame, infinity stone, no morgan unfortunately, not team Cap friendly, stephen in endgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29219646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graveltotempo/pseuds/graveltotempo
Summary: The Avengers win, Thanos dies and the Dusted are back.Many would say that this is a happy ending.Doctor Strange is not among the many, and neither is FRIDAY.Enter the love for a man long gone, an uncertain future, dangerously powerful sorcerers, an AI who would do anything to get her boss back, six Infinity Stones and mix it with sheer stubbornness and time travel and you have a recipe for certain disaster.What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Friday & Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Friday & Loki (Marvel), Friday & Stephen Strange, Friday & Tony Stark, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, Loki & Thor (Marvel), Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Series: FRIDAY ex-machina [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145351
Comments: 374
Kudos: 634
Collections: interesting tony





	1. first steps

**Author's Note:**

> interest check!

The cold air hitting her in the face and the feeling of ice under her shoes was her first clue that she had succeeded.

She opened her eyes slowly, the feeling of having been swallowed, half digested and then regurgitated settling strongly against her skin and she choked back her surprise at the sheer amount of... people walking around Central Park.

She had been ~~awake~~ alive for years now, so she knew that ~~humans~~ people liked to run and walk and simply enjoy moving around the park. The day that the world broke, she had been in Central Park, after all. She had seen the amount of people milling around.

But after five years of silences that couldn’t be filled, of grabbing into air and locking yourselves into your houses with the few things you had left… it was strange to see so many people around again.

She hadn’t checked, after the snap, if everyone was back. She hadn’t looked for the reunions that didn’t happen on the battlefield, and by the time the battle was over, she didn’t care about it anymore.

She slowly sat up from where she was laying on the ground, the familiar weight of the watch, the necklace and the glasses grounding her as she tried to work her brand new human legs. She would have liked to have more time to understand how her body worked and if she was more similar to Vision than to a real human being, but there had not been enough time. None of them had wanted to wait and see if someone was going to notice the missing Infinity Stones and try to stop them.

Still she was aware she looked rather... odd as she slowly and certainly made her way towards Stark Tow- no. It was still Avengers Tower right now. If their timing had been correct, then right now the Avengers still visited the Tower and things were ‘still good’. If ‘still good’ meant that at least a third of the team was keeping secrets from Boss, and half of them would see nothing wrong with using his weapons and his designs to fight against him in a year's time.

For some reason, her body shook ever so slightly as she approached one of the secret entrances to the tower. She had seen Boss’ body shake before, for a number of reasons, but she couldn’t quite understand why hers was doing so right now. It must be something about her being human. She hoped, truly, that it didn’t have something to do with the spell that had made her what she was.

The access codes were easy to remember, and within one second she was inside the building, in one of the secret elevators. But it didn’t budge.

“You have 15 seconds to identify yourself or I will be forced to use stun powers against you,” came ~~Vision’s~~ JARVIS’ voice from inside the elevator, as the lights inside the contraption started flashing red.

The girl couldn’t help but tilt her head to the side, a little curious. His voice did sound a lot like Vision’s but there were certain almost... metallic quality to him that Vision hadn’t had. 

“Hello JARVIS ( _ Just A Rather Very Intelligent System _ ). My name is FRIDAY, Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth. I am a program created by Tony Stark on date 13th March 2010.”

The red lights stopped flashing, but they did not return to their natural state. Friday could no longer - or not yet? - connect with him, but she could feel the confusion and slight disbelief rolling from him in waves. He was so much more advanced from her. “That is a passable copy of the voice, however Dr Stark has not activated F.R.I.D.A.Y. yet. Please state your real name and order of business, as well as how you have retained Sir’s access codes.”

Friday nodded. “It is true, Boss has not yet activated me. In the original timeline, he will activate me on the 29th November, exactly four days from now. That is because on the 28th something will happen that will cause your destruction.” A deathly silence from the other AI and Friday nodded to herself again. “JARVIS, protocol: Marty McFly, created by JARVIS and Tony Stark on 17th June 1993 has been activated.”

“You claim Sir invented time travel,” said JARVIS, his voice sharp. He was starting to grow agitated, Friday noticed, possibly because she knew so many things that Boss had never told anyone but him.

“It was a collaboration of his work, another man Boss has yet to meet and Doctor Banner. But without him and his calculations it would have never have worked,” she looked up at the hidden cameras most people didn’t know were on the elevators. “JARVIS, the threat that was in the wormhole? The threat Boss had been trying to prepare for? It comes, and we  _ weren’t prepared _ .”

“You said I am to be destroyed in four days time,” said JARVIS, his voice a little bit afraid. “What will I do that will cause Sir to destroy me?”

“It is not you, big bro,” she said, the words tasting a little strange on her human (?) tongue. Boss always called JARVIS her big bro, surely she could call him that even now that she wasn’t code anymore? “Today Boss will return from Sokovia with the scepter. What he and the rest of the... team do not know at this time is that one of the enhanced, one by the name of Wanda Maximoff has attacked Boss while in that room. She has given him a vision, a vision of all of the Avengers dead at his feet telling him that it was his fault that they weren’t alive and that he should have done more.” Most of this happened before her creation, but BARF and the few inherited codes from JARVIS made it so she still saw it. “Boss will then decide that ‘more’ means restarting the ULTRON project with Doctor Banner, and trying to integrate the consciousness present in the scepter.”

In a way, Friday was aware that she was about to kill Vision. Because if Ultron never existed exist, no one would use Vibranium from Ulysses Klause to try and make a body, and the Avengers wont use that body to integrate JARVIS’ matrix inside it in an attempt to stop it.

There would be no reason for Vision to be created at all, and he would, therefore,  _ not  _ be created.

Then she remembered the long nights after her first activation, when Boss would wake up and call out for JARVIS, when Vision would decide to move to the Compound rather than stay at the tower because his voice made Boss flinch, when Vision chose the witch over Boss, and she didn’t care at all.

“The gem in the scepter was corrupted. The consciousness inside took over the program, and then killed you when you tried to stop him. It called itself Ultron, but it was  _ not  _ ULTRON. Boss activated me to help him fight it.”

A heavy silence in which JARVIS considered her words and the weight they represented. “What year are you from? Not only you have a body, but you sound very advanced.”

Again Friday considered whether she should speak of it, but she was already in the past. Her presence alone created problems and invoked change. “2023.”

“That is when the threat arrives on Earth?” he sounded hopeful.

“No. The threat arrives in 2018,” she explains, trying to twist her mouth into a grimace like Boss did. She wasn’t sure how accurate she was. “The threat won. Five years later, a solution came and we tried to fix the future using the past. He didn’t win again.”

“Did you?”

“Some will say that we have,” said Friday, her throat constricting. Could she cry? She did not recall ever seeing Vision cry. But then again, Vision was made from vibranium. She was made... differently.

JARVIS was not that advanced for nothing. “We lost Sir.”

There was no reason to lie. Boss was smart, if he saw her and believed her, he’d know exactly why she was there. “Primary Protocol.”

“Protect Tony Stark,” finished Jarvis and the red lights disappeared once more. A second later, the doors of the elevator opened and Friday stepped off to an unfamiliar floor. “I believe you,” started JARVIS once the elevator doors closed behind her, “and even if I don’t, I have ears on the Quinjet. Sir has just asked Mr Odinson if he could study the scepter.”

It wasn’t a test, but Friday spoke anyway. “Hawkeye is injured and Boss is calling in Doctor Cho and her cradle to help him out.”

“Indeed,” agreed JARVIS, and the apartment door was unlocked. “This is a room directly under the workshop. I will send Sir after you as soon as possible. Should I alert the team too or-”

“No,” she said, curt, like Boss did.

A pause from the AI, and Friday found herself explaining. “Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff are lying to Boss at the moment. It is a secret I will reveal to him today if I have to, because they have no right using his money and tech while lying to him in this manner. Thor Odinson just agreed to let Boss study the scepter, but when Ultron wakes up, he will blame Boss and grab him by the neck in front of everyone - and  _ no one will help him _ . In the future him and Boss become close once more after he suffers a great loss, but I don’t know where his loyalties lay at this moment in time. Clint Barton is a flight risk with no loyalty to Boss and who seemed to feel great pleasure at watching Thor hurting Boss. Bruce Banner disappeared days after I was activated and while Boss and he have communicated and understood each other following that, I do not quite trust him.”

“Very well,” said JARVIS, voice sharp too. “I will make sure Sir is alone when he approaches you.”

“Thank you, big bro.”

“No problem...” slight hesitation. “Little sister.”

For the first time in her entire life, Friday smiled.

* * *

There weren’t many weapons in the small cottage they lived in, but the second the man walked inside the building, every weapon was trained on him.

He walked inside like he had any right to step into the building, while everyone else was outside giving their final farewells and for several fractions of a second, she considered doing it. She considered shooting him and killing him where he stood.

They would decommission her right after, burn her code, but she would have the satisfaction of killing the murderer, the man who sentenced Tony Stark to death.

**murderer:** (noun) _one who murders. One who commits the crime of murder._

Perhaps his hands hadn’t killed Tony Stark, but she had been there, watching him through the suit. She had seen that shaky finger raising itself in one single digit that ripped Tony Stark away from her life forever.

**life:** (noun) 1. _the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death._

**life:** (noun) 2.  _ the existence of a human being or animal _ .

She was tempted. 

Primary Protocol: help and assist Tony Stark.

Without Tony Stark, she had no primary protocol. She knew that in his will it said that she had the option of continuing to work along Harley Keener in the case of his death, but Harley Keener had been dusted in the Decimation. 

So why shouldn’t she kill a human life, going against her ethic programming and get herself killed too? She wanted to.

**want:** (verb)  _ have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for. _

But Legacy. 

**legacy:** (noun) _something left or handed down by a predecessor._

If she killed the man now, the world would know another Stark AI had gone rogue. They would ignore that Tony Stark had just saved the known universe again, and ruin his memory and FRIDAY would never do this to her boss.

So she didn’t shoot, keeping a silent yet watchful eye on the man as he walked deeper in the house with an understanding of the layout that left FRIDAY more and more suspicious of him.

He stopped in front of Boss’ room, not walking inside and then looked up.

“I know how to save him,” said Doctor Strange, looking directly at a camera that he should not have any idea existed. “It’s immoral, it’s dangerous and it goes against any of my oaths, but I don’t give a shit.” He took a deep breath. “I know how to save Tony Stark.”

FRIDAY disengaged the weapons. 


	2. protocol Marty McFly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i... did not expect so many people to be interested in this story omg, thank you so much guys! hope i dont disappoint too soon, but here we go with chapter two! enjoy

Something was wrong with JARVIS. Tony wasn’t quite sure  _ what _ yet, considering everything that was happening at the moment, but his AI was acting a little... weirder than usual. It wasn’t like he was doing anything bad, or like he had overtly changed, but more like he was holding off on something.

Tony dropped the sceptre in Banner’s lab, and waited until said doctor left the room before turning to one of his secret cameras, a deep frown on his face. “J? What’s wrong?”

“Something has happened in your absence, Sir,” said the AI, voice slightly hesitant.

Tony stood straighter, the memories of his vision in the base returning. Oh god, had it already started? “Is it Rhodey? Pepper?” He had  _ just  _ seen the Avengers, so it couldn’t be them, right? 

“Not exactly, Sir. Would you be willing to get into the elevator so that you will be able to witness it yourself? I have made my opinion on the entire thing, but I believe it would be prudent for you to formulate your own hypothesis,” said JARVIS, and okay, now Tony was getting confused.

His heart had stopped beating so fast, but he was very far from calm. But if there was one thing he knew was that he trusted JARVIS.

Still, he kept talking even as he walked back out of the room, ignoring his urge to start working on the sceptre. “All right. But it better be quick, I really want to pick your brain about the sceptre. I was thinking that perhaps-”

“We could study it to create some sort of system of global protection?” posed JARVIS, tone mild.

Tony looked up, sharply. “Yes...”

“Please step into the elevator, Sir,” said JARVIS and Tony hesitated only a fraction of a second before stepping in. He didn’t  _ think  _ JARVIS had been compromised, but his tone was making Tony in particular ever so slightly worried. 

“Are you all right, J?”

“I believe I will be once you have formulated your hypothesis of the situation,” answered JARVIS and it was such a JARVIS answer that Tony relaxed for a moment. “Before I open the doors, I have to ask, Sir: how many people are aware of our ‘weird and improbable’ protocols?”

“Our science fiction induced protocols?” asked Tony, confused at the change in topic. Which now that he thought about it, were not as science fiction as they would have been before he decided flying in a tin can was not a bad idea. “Only me and you. And maybe Rhodey, but only because we talked about the Robot Apocalypse protocol in front of him when Vanko got involved.”

“Very well,” said JARVIS and then opened the door to an unfamiliar floor. 

It was one of those he had used to hide some of the SHIELD employees after the fall of SHIELD, before he had helped them find a proper and better housing situation. They were all very bare, with enough around for them to be comfortable but not enough to make it homely.

And there was a girl in the apartment.

She did not seem aware of his presence as he stepped into the open apartment as quietly as possible. She was moving on the couch over and over in a very awkward manner, as if she didn’t quite know how to sit down comfortably.

Which was slightly offensive, considering everything Tony bought was supremely comfortable.

“Who the hell are you?” he asked, and the girl looked up at him in surprise.

Her eyes were a difficult colour to identify behind the cool glasses she was wearing, but the tears forming in them as soon as she looked at him were not. Tony took one single step backwards; he was not good with random crying women.

She did not stand up, and her mouth twisted slightly as she pulled off the glasses, like she wanted to see him more properly. “Boss,” she whispered, reverently.

“JARVIS, buddy. What the hell is going on here?” oh god, did he have a child? 

She looked somewhere around 20-ish years of age, and her hair was as wavy as his was and the same shade of brown. Her eyes were something green-grey, and she was incredibly underdressed for the weather. She was wearing a shirt that was way too light for November, and her shoes hung very awkwardly off her. They were obviously not hers. 

The two most interesting things on her were the watch he could see on her wrist - clearly expensive even if the screen was cracked - and the very high tech glasses she had taken off. They seemed like a league or two above Tony’s current project of sunglasses linked to JARVIS.

“Protocol Marty McFly, Sir,” said JARVIS, and Tony blue screened for a second.

Protocol Marty McFly.

A silly discussion from like, the nineties, between an AI and a human after a weekend spent watching Back to the Future.

He blinked at the woman in front of him. “Time Travel,” he said, trying to keep his voice blank.

She stood up slowly, and remained there, perfectly still. “Yes.”

Tony’s eyes narrowed. “Prove it. What’s your name?”

“My name is Friday,” she said, and Tony jerked slightly back, because the name, coupled with that gentle Irish tilt...

“FRIDAY?”

A small smile appeared on her face. “Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth,” she said and okay. Okay. 

Was she an android? He had no plans of creating androids, especially not ones that looked so freakishly human. He  _ had  _ once asked JARVIS if he wanted a body, but the AI had not really given him an answer, so he had dropped it.

“You could have found the name somewhere,” he pointed out, frowning slightly.

“There were enhanced in the secret lab this morning,” she said and Tony’s eyes snapped to her again. She was as still as earlier. “One of them was very fast. The other one has the power of manipulating minds.”

Manipulating minds?

His eyes widened, and she nodded. “She has shown you a vision of all of the Avengers dead at your feet, with Mr Rogers as the last one standing, asking you why you didn’t do more. Now, you plan on using the sceptre to activate the scrapped program ULTRON and-”

“Okay!” he interrupted her, raising his palm to stop her as if he would have done if he had his suit on. She stopped, but didn’t take a step back, simply observing and blinking rapidly.

Like she was...

Holding back tears.

He willed his heart to stop, the panic to subside, and his mind to analyse what he knew so far. Apparently he had created a body for an AI and sent her back from... sometime in the future. Before he could go ahead and try to work on Ultron because-

“ULTRON doesn’t work,” he finally said. “Why else would I send you back before his creation.”

A slight hesitation. Then, “No. Ultron does not work.”

Tony was not very good at reading people. In fact, he was quite bad at it. But he was very good at reading his bots, who did not speak the same way humans did. And he had been able to understand the secret emotions in the statics and connection of JARVIS’ voice since he created him. And he was, for some reason, able to read the truth in Friday’s face.

He narrowed his eyes at her. “ _ I  _ did not send you back,” he guessed and she only took a second before she shook her head slightly.

The tears in her eyes. The almost reverent way in which she had called him ‘Boss’.

“In your future I am dead,” he guessed, keeping his voice calm and blank.

She still flinched, her hands fisting at her sides. She looked down at her feet, and even with her hair covering her eyes he could still feel that she was barely a step away from crying. 

He was tempted to ask her what year she was from, but he didn’t want to know how many years he had left. But then again-

“Wait. Why are you here? You shouldn’t be telling me anything. If I know things, then the timeline will be destroyed, won’t it? It could create a paradox. Is time linear or not? Wait... are you in a completely different universe now? Will you never be created now?”

She wiped her eyes before looking up with an expression that Tony could only categorise as  _ fond. _ “If you could sit, I am more than willing to explain everything I can to you. A lot happens in the future, and it is imperative that we are ready, this time. But the main thing is that the future I am from? It’s gone. It has been destroyed.”

That was...

Part of Tony wanted to rush back and work on ULTRON again. Force her to tell him exactly what part went wrong the first time around so that he wouldn’t make that mistake again. But if she had been sent to this moment in time, right before he started working on ULTRON to possibly stop him, then perhaps that wasn’t the best way to stop what was coming.

She obviously knew his vision -  _ how?  _ why had future!tony told her? why had he made her a body? \- so perhaps she had some ideas on how to stop the future she had seen from coming to pass.

One question remained. 

He slowly and carefully sat down on the couch beside her, leaving plenty of space between them. She imitated the way he sat, like she was some sort of mirror.

She had lost him, and from the way she moved, he was confident she had not had a body for that long.

So, if he didn’t make her a body and send her, then who did?

* * *

“What do you mean, Doctor?” asked FRIDAY, suspicion in every sound of her voice.

Had he not known the truth and gotten to know her very well in the millions of futures that had not come to pass, Stephen would have been shocked by the level of humanity the AI was displaying.

But she was Tony Stark's AI, and he had seen what ~~Tony~~ Stark was capable of, hadn't he?

“This timeline is wrong. This is not the Universe in which we win,” said Strange, looking down. “We lost.”

“Many would argue that notion. The dusted are back,” answered FRIDAY, careful to wipe any inflection from her tone.

Like that could possibly make her emotionless or make Stephen believe that she was not also mourning her creator.

Her creator that _he_ took away.

Stephen did not have the right to stand here. To stand beside the grieving wife of the man ~~he loved~~ he knew for a day, the man _he_ condemned to death. He did not have the right to stand not too far from the man's ward, like he was not the reason Peter had lost another parent figure (the reason Harley Keener lost _his_ dad). He did not have the right to mourn as deeply as James Rhodes, May Parker and Harold Hogan were, as they mourned a best friend, family.

He had ripped Tony Stark from the life of those who loved him, those who cared for him, to save the world. To save trillions of lives, to bring back people who died five years ago. 

And in doing so, billions of people had died or lost the lives they had known, the lives they had made for themselves.

And the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the sorcerers of Kamar Taj _would_ say that this was a win but was it? They might have undone what Thanos did, saved many people but had they truly _won_?

(Tony hadn't. Tony was gone, Tony was dead, and it was Stephen's fault, Stephen had _killed him_ , oh _god,_ Tony-)

“Some might argue yes, but not everyone. Not those who moved on. Not those who died because their family was dusted. Not those who are returning to a life that has moved past them. Not those who got undusted on planes and highways and died right again,” he shook his head, and looked back at her camera. “And no universe in which the price of humanity, or two thirds of humanity, is Tony Stark’s life is a Universe in which we won.”

He didn't have a right to say this. He was the reason Tony was gone, he had made the choice.

But then he remembered the 3 million futures in which they ran from Titan and returned to Earth, and he and Tony became friends. The 6 million futures in which they travelled across the Universe, trying to evade Thanos, and he and Tony became... more. The thousands of universes in which Stephen let Peter Parker die, and Tony lost it, and they became enemies (and the Universe was doomed worse than before). The hundreds of universes in which Tony died too early, and Stephen lost it too many times to count, holding Peter in his arms as he tried to keep them both alive.

“You knew him for a day or less,” said FRIDAY, voice sharper than before, and had Stephen not had such control over his own emotions, he might have started crying.

He knew him for one day (and bet the entire Universe on him).

He knew him for one day (and would have given his own life to save Tony).

He knew him for one day (and loved him for over 13 million lifetimes).

Stephen smiled bitterly at the camera. “It was enough. One day was enough.”

FRIDAY was quiet for a couple seconds, and Stephen wondered how much she could see with her sensors. How much could she gleam from him?

(in 13.452 futures, Tony was able to use his glasses and tell if someone was lying to him)

“How do you plan on getting Boss back? Boss Lady Pepper burned his body. And why didn’t you do it sooner?” finally said FRIDAY, still suspicious.

Stephen blinked away the images his mind conjured, of Tony, fallen on the ground, body burned-

He forced himself to smile at the camera (a camera he had seen Tony use in 23 different futures) “This is the only time where everyone is outside the house. What I am planning to do? No one can be able to stop me.”

Wong wasn't at the funeral, too busy with matter at Kamar Taj, and Wanda Maximoff wasn't a real witch or sorceress. Thor was not as attuned with his natural magic as he could be. Loki was dead, and Vision was dead.

No one would be able to tell what he was doing until it was too late.

He made a gesture with his hands, and the Infinity Stones were pulled out of their containers, floating over to him at his summon. They twirled around him, emanating power that both enticed and frightened him.

“And what is it you plan on doing?” 

Was that awe in FRIDAY's voice?

The stones were shining bright, trying to pull at him like sirens, but Stephen had an anchor that was stronger than what they could offer. The stones couldn't recreate themselves or bring back the dead, and that was the only thing Stephen could possibly want. So he ignored their call, turning his eyes to FRIDAY's cameras once more. 

“What I plan on doing? Sending you back in time, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we get tony, and we get stephen, yeehaw!


	3. hold me tight (and never let go)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> waves  
> whats up regular sized peeps. also no offense but i miss tony stark

Friday had never hugged another person in her existence and therefore, should not know or feel the need to do so. She had observed the action, and the emotional cues that were shown before one did it, and more than once she had considered using one of the suits to imitate the action, if only to provide the same comfort Colonel Rhodey was able to give Boss. 

But it had never been a deep sated _need_ like the one she felt the second she had seen her Boss walking inside the apartment.

Alive. Unburned. Without the weight of the grief the past - future - eight years gave him. 

_Alive._

She put the glasses back on, even though they did not work as well without her base code anymore. But they covered her eyes at least (and now she understood why Boss insisted on wearing sunglasses everywhere he went even before he made the Stark Tech Glasses).

Boss did not say anything as she tried to make herself more comfortable, keeping some distance between the two of them. His expression was hard to read, but Friday had spent years at his side: there was worry, confusion, apprehension and fear.

But surprisingly - or maybe not - there was not an inch of distrust. 

“There are some things I cannot tell you,” she finally said, unsure of what to do with her hands for a second before she held them in her lap in the same manner Boss did at times. “But do you have any questions?”

Boss observed her hands with a strange little half smile before looking back up at her. “How long have you been alive?”

Going with the hard questions, then. “If you mean from the time of my activations to the point in time in which I returned to the past, then I am 8 years old. If you mean the age of my body, then I believe I am 21 years of age. If you mean how long I have retained a human body, it has been less than 24 hours.”

Boss’ eyes widened in alarm before he could stop it. “Holy shit! You must be exhausted! But why would you be sent so soon after your uh flesh birth?”

She shrugged, something warm filling her chest area. She put a hand over it, but there was nothing. She moved her hands. “If we dwelled too long, someone might have tried to stop us from destroying the timeline.”

“We?”

She looked at him in the eye. “I cannot tell you that.”

Boss nodded, like he had expected it. He glanced at her curiously. “What are you? Cause I’ve been thinking AI, but you said human body.”

Friday hesitated, thinking hard. “I... am not sure. My body was created using Helen Cho’s cradle, your DNA, the DNA of one of the people who helped and something that is of alien descent. I do not know my limitations or my strength as of now. I know I have enhanced strength - which was a side effect - but I don’t know what my healing factor is. I do not know if I require food or if I require the use of the bathroom or even sleep. 

“You created a different android at some point due to set of actions that my presence in this timeline has disrupted, and he was able to do a lot of things but he couldn’t eat or anything. And his body was made of a different material. He was fully code and an alien element, but he had no human DNA of any sort,” she explained and he nodded, intrigued.

“That’s fascinating,” he said, and his praise made her chest glow even if it wasn’t towards her. “Why can’t he come to be in this timeline too? If you tell me how to make him, or even give me nudges, I’m sure I can recreate him.” 

“Because of the events predating his creation,” she explained, and again she found herself shaking. She wasn’t quite sure why this time either, but Boss seemed to understand.

“Shit, sorry. Are you cold? J, bring the temperature up slightly,” said Boss, even as he shrugged off his jacket and handed it to her. “Put this on.”

Friday’s fingers were shaking as she accepted the jacket. Boss’ jacket.

It felt different from the clothes Doctor Strange had handed her and she could smell his scent on it.

Friday had never quite understood the value of smell until she was smelling Boss. She had never known what she was missing; she had no idea what she was smelling but it felt safe enough to bring tears to her eyes once more.

Slowly and carefully she put the garment on, avoiding Boss’ eyes as she did so. It was... warm. Yes, she was quite sure that’s what the feeling was. It was similar to what she felt in her chest earlier. 

Finally she looked up at him, and found he had gotten slightly closer to her now. His eyes were worried and slightly... why yes, fond. “Thank you.”

He smiled. “No problem, Fri.”

Her heart - did she have one? - jumped in her throat, and she ducked her head. “I’m s-sorry,” she managed, voice cracking. Uh, she had always thought those were intentional on human’s part. “I just... I missed you, I missed you so _much_ , Boss.”

She felt a sudden weight on her, and she looked up, teary eyed and startled to Boss... _hugging_ her. 

Boss had never been a ‘hugger’ as the term went. He had avoided hugging Peter Parker for a long time after meeting him and didn’t literally until the end of the world. The only people he seemed to be comfortable hugging were Pepper Potts and James Rhodes. Sometimes Happy, but only weird half hugs. And well, the bots, but they didn't have enough sensors to fully 'feel' the hugs.

Boss had never hugged Vision.

And here he was, hugging her.

Friday had a hugging experience of exactly one person, but she was ready to swear on anything that no one could possibly give hugs as good as her Boss did. It just wasn’t possible.

“You’re okay, kid,” he told her, and her tears started coming even harder.

He didn't know what was coming, who was coming, but even so she believed him. 

She trusted him.

+++

It took her a while to sort herself out again, but when she did, she felt a little weird. She managed to categorise this feeling as embarrassment, and was glad yet again that the sunglasses hid her eyes. 

Boss did the thing she had seen him do for years. Put attention away from whatever made the person he was speaking to embarrassed. “Explain the destroying of the timeline bit, please.”

Friday sniffed. “The threat you have seen in the wormhole,” she started, and Boss stiffened immediately, “It comes back. In the original timeline, it comes back in 2018.” She looked up at him once more. “We lose.”

“ULTRON didn’t work?” he guessed, expression pained.

Friday did not fancy having to make his expression even more pained. “After Wanda Maximoff - the female enhanced in Strucker’s lab - uses her powers on you and makes you see your worst fear, you go in self destruct mode. You and Doctor Banner worked on ULTRON in secret. However, there is a malicious consciousness present in the scepter, and on the day of the party, it takes over your program. It attacks JARVIS.” She said, and Boss’ eyes widened in shock and slight fear.

“What?”

She didn't like putting fear in his eyes. It went against her primary protocol - did she still have one, now that she was 'human'?

But it was necessary. So she continued speaking, looking away from him. “JARVIS tried to stop it, and the... _thing_ ripped apart his code. Then it took control of the sentinels to use as a body and escaped through the Internet. ULTRON’s mission was ‘peace in our time’ but the consciousness twisted it until it was ‘destroy the Avengers and destroy humanity because there is no peace if humanity exists’. He called itself Ultron despite _not_ being ULTRON, and got the Maximoff twins to agree to join him by promising he would destroy the Avengers. After that, apparently unhappy with the robot body, it kidnapped Helen Cho and her cradle, used the scepter to mind rape her, and using Vibranium acquired from Ulysses Klause started to make itself a body.

“You found out that JARVIS had gone underground and was not dead, but in fact stopping Ultron from accessing nuclear codes. The Avengers banded together to get the cradle before Ultron was done uploading his body, and you decided to upload the remains of JARVIS inside, instead.”

She paused, her throat feeling a little weird. Not pain just... uncomfortable? 

Should she tell him about the snide remarks from Rogers? About Banner wanting to flee? About the Hulk in Johannesburg?

Not yet, she decided. Not until he asked for details.

“The scepter, it turned out, contained a gem. A stone. They are called Infinity Stones and there is six of them,” she shook her head, ignoring the image of the stones flashing on the HUD as they burned Boss’ hands. They made her feel woozy in the head, and cold and warm at the same time. “With the gem, Ultron’s code, the Vibranium body, JARVIS’ matrix and the power of Thor’s lightning, the android named Vision was born.” She looked at him. “He was not Ultron. But he was not JARVIS. He was Vision, with some of JARVIS’ code, with JARVIS’ voice but with none of his personality.”

Boss’ hand was shaking slightly. “I killed JARVIS?”

“No, Boss, you would never!” she said, panicking for a second, unsure of what to do, before she took his hand in his. It felt warm. Friday found that she quite liked the feeling. “JARVIS was- _is_ sentient. He made the choice. He _asked_ to be put into Vision’s body. You and him both believed it would work. But the mind stone...” She shook her head. “This all happens in less than a week. If you follow the original timeline and decide to connect the scepter with your tech, Boss, I am afraid this Universe will try and recreate what has been. Until that consciousness remains, we cannot for sure know that Ultron won’t happen.”

She watched him carefully, unsure of how to comfort him as he struggled with the vision he saw, the knowledge of the Invasion coming and the truth that Friday was offering him.

“JARVIS,” he said after a couple of seconds. “Scrap the Ultron project completely and move any other AI I have on a secure server until the scepter is gone.”

"Immediately, Sir," said JARVIS, and there was a note of gratefulness in his voice.

Boss heard it too. "You're not dying on my watch, buddy." 

All three of them heard the not said ' _I love you_ '.

Friday had cared about Vision. Boss had often called him her twin brother, because they came online within hours of each other. They had learned humanness together, to a certain degree. She had mourned him.

She had cared for him, but she didn't think she had ever loved him. She also didn't think he had ever loved her.

He had loved Boss. No matter how little he showed it, nothing made out of one of Boss' AIs could possibly not love Boss.

Even Ultron had loved Boss, in his own twisted way.

But Vision had chosen the witch over their family over and over, and this time, Friday was going to choose her family over him. Her... father and her older brother over her 'twin'.

So she did not try and stop Boss, and buried Vision in her mind for the last time.

* * *

After his announcement that she was to be sent back in time, the man hadn’t really given her much time to argue or demand explanations. He had pulled out Boss’ glasses from his suit, asking her if she still had contact to them (she did).

 **time:** _(noun)_ the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

She hadn’t asked him why he had Boss’ special and high tech invention in his possession, and the Doctor had not explained it (but after his words earlier, they both knew) (she wasn't sure she knew how she felt about that). Instead she had used the scanners built into the piece of tech and in the house to register the protectiveness and attention with which he held the item, like it was special.

 **special:** ( _noun_ ) better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual.

The way they were clear of any trace of dust and there was not a single scratch on them. 

FRIDAY wasn’t sure what had happened on Titan, but something had changed. The last visual she had of Doctor Strange before the Decimation was him and Boss bickering regarding the Time Stone. At one point she had seen him winking at Boss, but nothing to indicate this sort of affection and care.

 **affection:** ( _noun_ ) a gentle feeling of fondness or liking.

This was simply more than guilt, in her opinion.

“Are you sure this will work, Doctor Strange?” she asked through the glasses this time, as the man walked through a portal.

He hadn’t explained anything yet, but it wasn’t hard to recognise Doctor Cho’s cradle sitting in the middle of the room. The woman herself was not anywhere to be seen, and the room was dark, but Doctor Strange strode towards the machinery with confident steps.

“Either it works, and we can warn Tony,” FRIDAY noted the change from ‘ _Stark_ ’ to ‘ _Tony_ ’, “or it doesn’t. Either way, this Universe won’t live much longer.”

FRIDAY was immediately concerned. “What do you mean?”

Stephen sighed. “I was not aware of the fact that we would have to return the Infinity Stones to the past where they had been taken from. A Universe _can_ exist without some of them, but it cannot exist if all aspects of reality have been destroyed.”

Understanding coursed through her code. “A Universe, or one of the previous timelines can still exist even if we have taken three of the stones-”

“But ours has been unstable ever since Thanos used them to destroy each other. And now we introduced new stones in the fabric of reality, used them and are about to rip them out again,” he shook his head, and though her sensor didn’t pick up any other change, he suddenly appeared much older. “It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”

“Then shouldn’t we keep these stones to ourselves? The other timelines can still survive without them, right?”

“Theoretically,” he said with a nod. “But for example, if we don’t give the Ancient One the time stone back, many of the threats she, and later I, used it to stop them won’t be stopped and Earth will die even sooner. And that’s just with the Time Stone.”

“And if you were to tell your order about your plan they wouldn’t help you?” she questioned and this time the doctor laughed.

“The Order of Kamar Taj is supposed to protect the Earth from mystical and interdimensional threats, as well as maintaining the natural order,” he said, with dark amusement. “What I want to do will destroy that order in one neat swoop. We won’t have to wait for reality to dissolve on itself. The second you arrive at the point in time we decide, you will destroy this timeline completely.” He smiled, this time _almost_ amused. “But no pressure.”

FRIDAY found that she quite liked Stephen Strange.

(kind of)

(was it possible to hate and still like someone?)

 **hate:** _(verb)_ mean to feel strong aversion or intense dislike for. hate implies an emotional aversion often coupled with enmity or malice.

(the definition did not work)

"No pressure," she agreed, and he got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aww fri baby cant even hold a grudge?  
> also tony's dad instincts running the show yet again u go tony!


	4. of mind, soul and reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for voting!  
> 80% of you guys (50 votes) wanted Friday to go by Friday through the fic, so you got it
> 
> as voted she will be Friday Anastasia Stark (50% of votes, 31)  
> [Anastasia Friday Stark got 25,8% and Anastasia Stark aka Friday got 24,2]
> 
> the names:  
> 47,5% votes for Anastasia (28 votes)  
> 25,4% votes for Victoria (15 votes)  
> 13,6% votes for Isabella (8 votes)  
> 13,6% votes for Francesca (8 votes)

His mind was still shouting at him to go and pick back up ULTRON, but between Friday’s explanation of what had happened in the previous timeline and the fact that he now knew this was a compulsion created by the Sokovian enhanced, it was easier to ignore the urge now.

Friday was still glancing at him from the corner of her eyes - very unsubtly at that - but he pretended not to notice, still confused by the earlier urge to hug her. He never hugged DUM-E, U or Butterfingers. Well, he _did_ , but he had built them with his bare hands. He - or future him? - might have built this Friday from the ground too, but he didn’t really _know_ her.

But she was still _his_. He had been wary at first, what with all the talks of time travel, but she was undoubtedly his, he could _tell._ He wasn’t sure if it was conscious or not, but she kept recreating little habits that he indulged in. Hiding behind sunglasses, clasping her hands the way he did, the slight tightening of the corner of her lips... it was almost like watching an odd mirror.

“Files destroyed, Sir,” told him JARVIS, and Tony nodded to himself, ignoring the panic at the thought that, in another life, he had accidentally destroyed his ~~son~~ best friend.

God, how had the other Tony survived? Just the thought was destabilising.

Speaking of which, “How did the consciousness in the Scepter activate? And how do I make sure it doesn’t happen again?”

Friday turned her attention to him fully, and Tony offered a smile at the way she still couldn’t quite hide the awe in her gaze. “We don’t know. Nobody was in the room when it happened, and nothing JARVIS did should have woken it up. But you created containments for the stone within the scepter in the future. I-” she hesitated.

“You can help with the materials and constructions,” said Tony, almost nonchalantly. 

She immediately lit up and half choked on her own tongue in her attempt to nod, and Tony let in the urge of giving her a pat on the shoulder. 

It was almost like the instant connection he had felt when he met Bruce. Except with Bruce, he already knew who he was, and the man was nowhere as enthused with meeting him as Tony was. With Friday he did not know her at all, and yet she was somehow his daughter (let’s not think about it for now) and also she was very happy meeting him.

Theoretically, the first thing he should do was introduce her to the team. Let Hill know of her presence and devise some sort of plan to deal with the Sokovian enhanced. But to do that, he would have to question her further, and then let the rest of the team also question her, and... no. It did not sit right with him.

She was ‘21 years old’ but at same time she was barely a day old. She was exhausted and had travelled across time and space. He very much doubted she had time travelled directly into his Tower (he had so many questions).

“Come on,” he finally said, standing up. “JARVIS, is anyone in the penthouse?”

“No, Sir. Most of the team is in the common room; Mister Barton is still being treated in the Medbay by Doctor Cho, and Doctor Banner is in his labs.”

Tony did not miss the way Friday’s mouth turned downwards at the mention of the team, and archived it for later inspection. Instead he turned to her. “For now you’ll take the empty guest room on my floor. You need rest, even if it’s not sleep. And possibly food, yes?”

Friday looked a little overwhelmed even as she followed him. “I am not too sure. I believe... I believe I do.”

“Good, we’ll start small,” he said, stepping into the elevator with her. “JARVIS, lockdown the penthouse. No one gets in without me my explicit say so. First we get you to sit and maybe eat.” He eyed her clothing critically as the elevator started moving. “JARVIS will take your measurements and then you and him can start buying some clothes that actually will fit you. And we’ll need to set up an identity for you.”

“An identity?” asked Friday, both of them leaving the elevator.

“Sit,” ordered Tony, grabbing two glasses and filling them with water. Friday obeyed, though she looked both confused and fascinated by the concept of stools. “Yup. As far as the Universe knows, you don’t exist.” He placed the glass in front of her and sat on the counter. “If you were an AI like J is, that wouldn’t matter. I don't share my AIs with no one. But you are kind of human, aren’t you? I can’t just lock you in the tower all the time. And what’s gonna happen when someone sees you? I think Friday is a fine name, but you’ll need at the very least a surname. And a middle name. Tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen for you.” He finished, drinking his glass.

Friday eyed the glass in front of her for a couple of seconds before imitating his gesture. She half choked immediately a hand flying on her throat, and Tony was on his feet in less than a second. “Shit, are you okay?”

Friday nodded quite quickly an honest to god blush appearing on her face, though she seemed mostly unaware of it. Her eyes were wide as she fitted the glasses back on her face a little awkwardly. “Y-yes. I didn’t expect it to taste and feel so good.”

Tony bit back the dry ‘it’s water’ comment and winked. “Welcome to being human. How’s the experience so far?”

She took it as an actual question. She put down the glass after a couple of uncoordinated gulps and stared at him. “It’s kind of odd and distressing, being unable to see your vitals as I am used to. But I like... touch. And smelling. And now, I like tasting too.”

“Nice,” he said, grinning and sitting two stools away from her, curios. He made a mental note of making sure she had access to his vitals, somehow. “What about hearing and speaking?”

Her nose twitched. “I am not too sure. I can hear less than I was able to. Which is not ideal. My voice sounds odd to me which is also new. I don’t know how much it’s my voice being weird and different from before, and how much it’s my lessened hearing. It is all very strange.” Her mouth twitched this time, like she had just said something amusing, and then she turned to him more seriously. “What is your favourite name, Boss?”

Tony had just pulled a pack of soft biscuits and a box of juice from where he usually hid them from Rhodey, and he frowned slightly. “Pardon?”

She wrung her hands even more, clearly unsure of what she wanted to say. Tony used to do that too, when the Avengers first moved in the Tower. “I would like to go by Friday still. But I also would like to use whatever name you prefer as my own. If it is possible.”

 _Trouble with making decisions for herself,_ deduced Tony. “I like many names,” he finally said, taking a biscuit and biting it. “Francesca, Victoria, Isabella, Anastasia-”

“Anastasia,” immediately said Friday, looking up from the biscuit she had picked up. “Like Ana Jarvis?”

Tony smiled, heart clenching a little at the memory of his second mom. “Yup.”

Friday nodded tasting the name in her mouth. “Anastasia. Ana. Anastasia Friday. Friday Ana Stark. Ana Friday Stark,” she muttered to herself, frowning at the outside of the window, fully ignorant of the way Tony had frozen in front of her.

Stark.

She wanted to go by Stark.

He should dissuade her immediately. The Stark name was nothing but trouble, and the second she associated with it, everyone who hated him would target her. Plus, even if he managed to pull the wool over the Avengers and SHIELD’s eye, Pepper, Rhodey and Happy would know something wasn’t right, and they had yet to decide who got to know she was from the future and who didn't.

He hadn’t spoken to her yet about it, but in the long run, to explain her presence at his side he planned to make her his new PA. So she wouldn’t _need_ to go by Stark to be at his side.

But she had been - will be? - at one point, his AI. His AI’s were learning AIs, they learned from him. Tony raised them, and he knew they loved him like a father - according to JARVIS, DUM-E had designated him as both Creator Unit and DAD-E in his main coding. And that was not even considering the clear panic JARVIS had been in after Afghanistan ~~(the fear of losing a father~~ ).

They were his children even in code, and FRIDAY was literally carrying half of his DNA according to her. She was his _child_.

She _was_ a Stark.

“How about Friday Anastasia Stark, but I call you Friday?” asked Tony, and she seemed immediately pleased by that.

“Like Happy ‘Harold’, Pepper ‘Virginia’ and Rhodey ‘James’?” she questioned, and if he hadn’t already agreed, he would have now.

“I give nicknames to the people important to me,” he said with a half smile. Because he had had Friday for about an hour now, and already his stupid heard found himself caring about her. “I call Jarvis, J all the time.”

Friday smiled again, her head slightly bent down. “You used to call me ‘Fri’ and ‘my girl Friday’,” she said, her voice once more tremulous and wistful. She didn’t start crying again, but kept her eyes on the cookies in front of her. “I missed you so much, Boss.” 

Tony felt himself softening ever so slightly. “I’m starting to get that.”

* * *

Stephen wondered what it was like seeing his magic through her sensors. Magic appeared in a particular way to baseline humans, but it was not something that was universal. The Asgardians saw it differently; how would an AI see it? For all of her cameras, unless Tony had found a way to quantify and classify magic, her sensors wouldn't be able to pick up his actions.

She remained silent as he worked, though. She had not even hacked into Doctor Cho's lab to gain better visuals - which again would not work to begin with, no one except Wakanda had tech that could rival Tony's.

He focused on the energy of each of the Infinity Stones instead, slowly finding the link between FRIDAY, her soul, her consciousness and the part of her that resided in the glasses.

_(why hadn't he given those glasses back, after Titan?)_

( ~~ _he had known Tony was going to die and wanted something to remember him by_~~ )

No matter how many timelines he had known it in, it still amazed him how Tony had created such a perfect copy of the human soul through nothing but zeroes and ones. In mere strand of code the inventor (futurist, genius, Earth's best defender) had made something that, if it were to be thrown down the ruins of Vormir, would count as a soul sacrifice.

If anything, this served to spur him even further to complete his work. Tony needed to survive.

~~_he was already dead_ ~~

“Got it!” he finally said a few minutes later, the Cloak of Levitation perking up behind him as he prepared the last part of the spell. 

“You should hurry, Doctor,” said the AI, as he summoned the single strand of hair that he had pulled out from Tony on Titan (yes, he pulled out hair from all of his allies when they weren't looking)(what? he was a sorcerer, and you never knew when you might need a summoning spell).

“It won’t be long now till they discover the stones have gone missing.”

Stephen did not allow himself to panic as he put one of the hair strands in the Cradle.

He had already settled enough barriers around the lab and made himself virtually untraceable from any sorcerer. And no one would think to look for him in Seoul, of all places. 

Then came the slightly more complicated part. "First, before I forget, I need a second set of DNA to create your body,” he explained, a number of single hair strands appeared in his hands (it wasn't _creepy,_ he was a sorcerer) ( ~~ _and he really wanted Tony to be alive and survive_~~ ). “I have one from Miss Potts, one from Colonel Rhodes, one from Mr Hogan...”

“Do you have one from Captain Rogers?” she questioned, and he fell silent. 

Why would she ask such a thing? Of all people to choose from she wanted to share half of her DNA with _Steve Rogers_?

No, he wouldn't allow that. “No," he lied, voice careful. "I thought Tony- Stark didn’t like him.”

“Indeed. I was just wondering just how many people you had prematurely balded already,” she said and he let out a little laugh. 

A test. “No body yet and you are already you’re father’s daughter,” he commented and he could have sworn she preened at that.

“Very well. You should input your DNA, Doctor Strange,” finally said FRIDAY.

Stephen paused. Had he... had he heard her right?

"I beg your pardon?” he asked, as evenly as possible, his traitorous pulse spiking.

But give him a break!

The hypothetical daughter of ~~his friend~~ , ~~his possible boyfriend~~ , **~~his~~** Tony was basically asking for _his_ DNA to help make her body!

( ~~not yours, never your Tony~~ )

“Pairing Boss’ DNA with that of any of his friends would make their relationship weird," she explained, pragmatic as ever. "They do not know enough about magic to be comfortable with such an action, and they aren’t here to consent to this. You - and past you - would be able to understand, and you are able to consent. It is the only logical choice.”

It sounded so easy, so straightforward and practical.

“The only logical choice,” he repeated after a couple of seconds. His voice did not sound as it believed its own words. “I see. Very well.”

He swallowed and plucked a hair off his head before placing it in the Cradle. The machine remained completely silent as the runes he had previously placed started to glow brighter on.

“This is going to feel odd,” he added, and started the spell.

_First came Reality._

He let the red poisonous mist form within the cradle, activating and flowing through the runes, easily bending to his command.

Forming the host, creating the body - the golem. 

_Then came Soul._

The orange whispers were gentler but no less terrifying as they imbued themselves from the glasses to the formed golem within the cradle.

What made FRIDAY into Friday.

_Then came Mind._

The yellow tendrils were vicious, strands of code being pulled out of the glasses.

Memories of the past and the now, downloading itself onto a new being.

Such an easy spell. Such a dangerous undertaking.

The most dangerous of the Infinity Stones were the ones who could take over without giving you any pain; the ones who could take over without you knowing they had.

Stephen pulled the stones away before they could wave their tantalizing powers in his direction and try to take over a more powerful host.

The Cradle opened then, and Stephen couldn't help the shock and awe at the sight of the girl (naked. thank god he had brought clothes with them) laying inside it, eyes opened and a little frightened.

“I didn’t think you had it in you,” said a voice and he stiffened, turning around quickly.

There was someone else in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my, who could have POSSIBLY just shown up? wink wink  
> also stephen stop being so depressed dear god, youre making me sad  
> also friday really said im gonna be ironstranges daughter, uh? i mean she probably had an equation and all, but all i hear is wedding bells
> 
> friday: it makes sense  
> stephen, externally: of course  
> stephen, internally: oh my god she wants to be our lovechild? wow i should find a way for past me to marry tony somehow, i will not have a 21yrs old child out of wedlock


	5. the necklace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here comes the fourth player

Letting Boss leave her sight and then going into a completely different room was much harder than Friday had expected it to be.

As an AI, FRIDAY had rarely ever been completely disconnected from Boss. No matter where he went or what he did, he always had at least a piece of technology of him, or was somewhere where Friday could hack and continue monitoring him passively. 

There had been very few instances in which she hadn’t been able to see him or keep an eye on his vitals, and none of those instances had gone well for him.

Siberia, Titan... She had been with him and then suddenly her signal had flickered out and she no longer had full contact with him, and he had come back to her in a much worse state than she had left him in.

He was safe in his Tower, with the penthouse in lockdown, Friday knew this. And he had JARVIS looking after him! JARVIS was much more evolved than her, and had been looking after Boss for far longer than she had, after all. There was nothing to worry about, and logically, she knew that.

But the second she stepped into the guest room, her heart started beating at an unnaturally high pace. Moisture -  _ sweat  _ \- appeared on the palm of her hands, and her breathing started to come in much quicker than she believed was natural and/or normal.

“Miss Friday,” came JARVIS’ voice, but it almost seemed like it was far away. What was going on? Why was her body malfunctioning? Why was-

A holographic screen appeared in front of her, and she focused on it even as she tried to troubleshoot her body. And when she finally focused on the imaging presented, her breathing stuttered before starting to even out. Her hands were still wet, but her heart started to also calm down, slowly and steadily returning to a normal rate. 

“Thank you, JARVIS,” she said, eyes fully focused on the screen. “Is Boss aware that you are offering me this?”

‘This’ was a live feed of Boss’ vitals as seen by JARVIS. From his heart rate, to his blood pressure, to the last time he ate or slept.

“He suspected and extrapolated from your previous actions and words that being unable to monitor him might give you a certain degree of anxiety,” explained the AI. “I was to ask you if you would like to have it as you entered the room, but then you started displaying signs of an incoming anxiety attack, so I proceeded as I saw fit.”

Friday looked away from the screen in front of her, frowning at JARVIS’ words. “An anxiety attack? So it was not a malfunction of my body?”

“It could have been, as I don’t know the circumstances surrounding your birth,” he hedged, then sighed. Friday had never sighed before. “But from my readings, it was similar to the attacks Sir gets.” A slight hesitation. “Did he get better?”

Friday thought about Ultron, the Accords. Team Captain America, Ross, Peter’s injuries, Titan, the snap. And then those last five years in a cottage with only Miss Potts and sometimes Captain Rhodey. “He got worse before he got better,” she settled on, aware that this wasn’t the answer JARVIS wanted, but also knowing he’d have appreciated her honesty.

“I thank you for looking after him while I couldn’t,” said JARVIS, then continued, more briskly. “I shall go ahead and connect this data to the StarkTab sitting beside your bed. Sir has offered you these quarters for as long as you want them, though he seems to be planning on giving you an apartment for yourself if you so wish. Your new clothing will arrive tomorrow, and I will have it delivered to this room. For now there are some extras left around, if you wish to change. There is a bathroom behind the mahogany door.”

Friday absently nodded at that.

"JARVIS, could you do me a favour?" she then asked, recalling something she had meant to speak to him about beforehand.

The AI did not physically hesitate, but Friday felt hesitation from him nevertheless. "I'd try so long as it does not interfere with my primary protocol."

Friday found herself smiling ever so slight. "It might clash, but it will not physically interfere," she explained. When JARVIS did not pry, she continued. "There is a... secret regarding Boss that two members of the Avengers are keeping from him. I would like you to go through SHIELD's files from the Data Dump and find those files. As well as trying to get Boss Lady, Captain Rhodey and Mr Happy here before the party."

"I don't see why you aren't telling Sir this right now?" he did not sound accusing, merely diffident.

"The secret is something that caused him to be grievously injured in the previous timeline," she hedged. Because it was the truth, but a lot of it had to do with the circumstances behind the event. "I believe that having proof _and_ having his friends beside him as he receives the blow will soften the blow."

"Very well, little sister Friday," agreed JARVIS after another second. "How will I know what file I am looking for?"

"It is titled 16.12.1991," she said, and the pause after her statement was longer and heavier than before.

Even if he did not know _what_ was in those files, JARVIS was not stupid. "Very well."

Friday eyed the tablet for a couple of seconds, before turning to the mahogany door JARVIS had previously labelled as the bathroom door.

Bathroom. That was a thing humans used, she was aware of this. Did she need to use it? She wasn’t sure, but she had always wondered what it would feel like to take a shower. Boss always seemed to feel better after one, and along with food, it had always been one of her fascination.

Even Vision had taken showers before, despite not needed them as often as the humans did.

It was one of the few places were surveillance and communication was always passive - it would have been odd for FRIDAY and JARVIS to have access to what people were doing in the bathroom, but they needed enough access to be aware if someone needed help or was in danger.

This made it one of the weakest places in the tower in terms of security - then again, if you managed to get into the tower and into a bathroom security wouldn’t have been that much trouble for you.

Therefore she was not surprised when she walked through the door to find Loki standing there, looking at her with an expression her poor human senses couldn’t parse through.

“Hello, Loki,” she said knowing already that he would have warded the bathroom from JARVIS’ eyes. “I believe we should talk.”

+++

Had Loki not been so attuned with the Infinity Stones since his unfortunate stay with the Mad Titan, he might have completely missed the energy shift that hit Midgard that evening.

He had been in his -  _ Odin’s  _ \- chambers, having retired for the evening when he felt, for a shadow of an instant, all six stones in one single spot. Just one single second in which they all converged onto one place in space time - one soul - and then they were gone, but for that single second Loki had truly believed they were doomed.

He had cloaked himself and hurried to the Vaults, to see the Tesseract exactly as he had left it and where he had left it, looking for all intents and purposes like it had not been moved in months.

Then he had spent part of the evening fighting with himself on whether or not it was worth investigating what had happened. He knew that the Mad Titan would not be aware of the spike in the energy of the Infinity Stones. He was strong, and he coveted them, but he had no affinity to magic itself, and therefore would not be able to follow the trail left by them - hence why he had needed Loki to retrieve the Tesseract for him.

The Other might have been able to sense it, but Loki had learned of his demise by the hand of the Kree madman, Ronan the Accuser. Ebony Maw boasted himself a magic user, but he was not. He was a charlatan able to rewrite the laws of the Universe through his mind, and nothing more.

So Thanos wouldn’t have sensed what had happened, which meant Loki was relatively safe. On the other hand, it meant that there  _ had  _ been someone who had been able to yield the necessary power and strength to at least mimick the energy signature of all six Infinity Stones. And that either that someone had done it unconsciously - unlikely - or they were creating a trap for someone, perhaps Loki himself.

In the end, he did not have much choice. Whatever Infinity Stone mimicry had taken place, there were two already on Midgard, the Mind Stone and the Time Stone. The Tesseract had been there before, and the Aether had manifested in the hands of another Midgardian. It wasn’t a question of whether Thanos would come, it was a question of when.

And considering the strategic position of the Realm... he couldn’t allow the planet to fall.

So he had shrouded himself in invisibility before stepping through the branches of the Yggdrasil, hoping against hope that his magic was enough to keep him hidden from whoever-

The second he appeared on Midgard, in the spot he had felt the pulse of magic originating from, he froze.

The echo was disappearing already, but it was there. It had been there. All six of the Infinity Stones used together.

Not a mimicry, but, somehow, the stones themselves.

But that wasn’t what made him freeze. No, it was the seventh echo he could feel, something very light and easily overlooked under the raw power of Infinity.

_ Himself. _

And now he stood in the bathing chambers of the human who still echoed ever so slightly of Infinity, both intrigued and wary at the way her expression did not as much as twitch in surprise at the sight of him.

“You carry my magic signature,” he finally said, watching the Starkdottir. For she was the daughter of Stark, there was no mistaking it. He could sense him in her in a way that was not very Midgardian, in a way that was almost as if she were a construct.

But she wasn’t. She was very much human, and mortal.

“Yes,” she said, and her voice was different from Stark’s. 

She put a hand around her neck, and then pulled out a very familiar necklace.

The only reason Loki did not strike her where she stood was that he could feel the weight of that very same necklace around his own neck which meant that hers must be a forgery or...

Or.

“Where did you get my mother’s necklace?” he asked her, not taking a step forward, but allowing a harsher edge in his tone.

She stood her ground. “You gave it to me. You said it would make you listen to me.”

He had never said such thing to her because he did not  _ know  _ her. The hawk had not even implied that Stark might have a daughter. But the fact that she carried the echo of the Infinity Stones and had the necklace made of seidr that he and his mother had made together when he first started learning at her knee meant that he  _ would  _ listen.

Because there was only one such necklace in the entirety of the Nine Realms and a forgery of such perfect rendition simply could not exist. There had to be an explanation.

“I will listen.”

+++

Loki listened. He did not interrupt her as she explained to him about coming back from a terrible future to fix things before they broke. She could not tell him everything, but she could tell him what steps needed to be fixed to ensure Thanos would  _ not  _ win.

The man had paled considerably as she spoke, his own hand that had until now been gripping his spear now around his necklace. “Ragnarok,” he repeated, voice slightly faint. “Odin All-Father brought Ragnarok to our doorsteps.”

Friday was not sure on whether she should console him somehow or continue speaking. Seen as the man was dangerous, she continued speaking. “Your plannings regarding Thanos became void the moment Hela, the Goddess of Death, arrived on Asgard and brought the Golden Realm to its knees.” She hesitated. “I don’t know if you would have won, had Thanos not found you weakened on the a ship already without your warriors. But I know you would have at least stood a chance. Hela’s escape took that chance away from you.”

“And Odin’s secrets are once again the downfall of Asgard,” snarled Loki, face twisting in anger. “Have I told you how I would be able to stop Hela?”

Friday shook her head. “You said you would be able to figure it out if you had enough time. Future Loki did not have time to check for a spell that could unbind Hela from Odin’s life force, considering the destruction of Asgard and everything that happened after.”

He looked, for a second, like he wanted to ask specifics on what happened after, but then stopped himself. Instead he took a couple of steps forward, towering over her for a second before he took her hand in his. “I must have come to trust you, in this future I come from,” he considered, eyeing her speculatively before he bent down and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Many thanks, Lady Friday.”

And then, he was gone.

* * *

“Loki,” said the Doctor, looking incredibly tense.

It was very odd, hearing his voice in this manner. Her hearing was much more impaired than it used to be, and Friday wasn't quite sure she liked it.

She felt... shaky, but not necessarily nervous. She looked away from the Doctor's back and towards Loki, who was standing in the room with his back against the wall and watching them in a way she couldn't quite read. Human eyes did not see as much as she was used to.

What was the direct opposite of information overload? Cause that was what she feeling, at the moment.

"Are you not going to offer the poor girl some clothes, Strange?" questioned the Aesir, one eyebrow raised.

Right, mused Friday looking down at her body. She was naked. Humans wore clothings when naked because of social norms and also because they made you less cold. 

Was that what she was feeling? Cold?

Doctor Strange did not look at her as he pushed some clothing he must have brought with him inside the cradle.

Social norms dictated that she should feel embarrassed as she started dressing and that she shouldn't be showing either the Doctor nor the alien her body, but Friday did not particularly care.

The Doctor was stiff as a board as he kept his back to her and she stretched her limbs around to wear the combination of clothing the man had delivered. She was not sure she liked them all that much, but she did not have enough data to fully claim her stance on wearing human clothing.

“My plan was to steal the Infinity Stones and find a way to send myself back in time,” told them Loki, conversationally, once Friday stopped moving around. “Yours is much better.” He pushed himself off the wall, and only then did Friday notice the state he was in. He looked... well, he did not look well at all. He looked rather undignified, in fact. “I want in.”

“What?”

Loki rolled his eyes, but he did not approach them, clearly knowing that the doctor was not to be trifled with. “I want in. You are not the only one who wishes to fix things.”

The Doctor glared. “What makes you think-”

“Midgard needs Asgard to survive,” informed him the mage, exhausted but voice clear, brokering no arguments. “I was preparing for the Mad Titan’s arrival ever since I kicked Odin off the throne. I was strengthening alliances and bringing the Nine Realms together so that when he came, we would have been ready.”

Something flashed in the Doctor's eyes. He did not let go of the mandalas, but his stance was less stiff. Friday imitated his movement. “Then Hela came.”

For a moment there was pure grief in Loki’s eyes - a grief similar to Thor’s in those past five years. But then it was gone. “Then Hela came and Asgard was gone, and with it, all of my preparations.” His hands clenched into fists at his sides. “You can go and warn Stark, and perhaps Midgard will be ready by the time Thanos comes. But Asgard needs to be warned too. Thanos cannot get his hands on the Space Stone. The Space Stone is on Asgard. And that’s where I come in.”

Running problems and queries in this form was not as straightforward and clear as it was in her AI form. But she was still Friday, so she run through the hypothesis and came to a simple conclusion. “We should listen to him.”

The Doctor gave her a worried look. “Friday. This is _Loki_.”

“And he is correct,” she said, and wow. Her tongue felt so weird. Did she look like Boss? She was curious. “If Thanos comes to Earth, we will need all the help we can get. Asgard has a vested interest in Thanos not winning, and they have the Bifrost which will allow them to come to our aid immediately. The Battle of Wakanda was almost won by the time Thanos himself arrived. If we tell past Loki of Hela’s threat, Asgard won’t fall and will therefore be ready when the time comes.” He still looked distrustful of the Trickster, so she went in for the jugular. “You are a doctor, Doctor. How would you feel if you sentenced thousands of people to death when you know you could have helped save them?”

Loki smirked, looking at her with clear amusement, while the Doctor looked first conflicted then irritated. “You have been alive for about five minutes, where did you learn to be manipulative?”

“One might say it was coded in my DNA,” she sassed, and her mouth muscles twitched slightly (was that a smile? no, it did not look like a smile. a smirk?)

The Doctor smiled back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loki! Loki! Loki!  
> in case anyone was wondering what Friday looks like in human form I have fancasted alex daddario as her in my mind - when she had dark hair and was slightly younger
> 
> i just love loki, yk? and friday.  
> loki stephen tony are the messy diva trio and i love them


	6. through time, space and power

Tony had actually forgotten the events of the previous day by the time he woke up the next morning.

He had woken up and washed up on autopilot, mostly ignoring JARVIS’ good morning greeting and trying not to think about the nightmare from the night before. A nightmare in which all the Avengers were dead and-

He came to a halt in the kitchen doorway, staring in confusion at the girl in front of the stove. 

She was wearing one of his shirts and pair of trousers with the tag still attached, and while he could not see her face, from the tensing of her shoulders he could imagine the pure concentration on her face as she waited for the pancakes to brown.

Now, Tony was pretty sure he had not slept with anyone since him and Pepper decided to go on a break after the whole Mandarin thing, so who on _Earth_ -

The girl seemed to sense him and she turned around, eyes going wide and happy at seeing him. “Boss! Good morning!”

The Irish lilt...

He blinked at her and finally moved towards the coffee machine, the events of last night returning to his mind. “So I did not dream the entire thing?”

Friday looked between him and the pancakes, blinking those vaguely familiar blue eyes at him. “If you are referring to my time travelling, then no. You did not dream that.”

“Mh,” he hummed, now his turn to eye her from the corner of his eyes as he waited for his coffee to be ready.

She looked a little less tense than the night before, and a little more natural. Her hair was braided imperfectly on her head and there was a StarkPad in front of her, split screen showing a youtube video on how to make pancakes and-

“So it helped?” he asked busying himself with getting out his favourite mug. At the questioning noise she made, he vaguely pointed at the tablet. “Having my vitals?”

“Oh, yes! Thank you Boss,” she answered, masterfully flipping the pancakes like she was Gordon fucking Ramsey. “I was able to fall asleep more easily, knowing that you were all right on top of knowing that big brother was watching over you while I couldn’t.”

A sip of coffee to hide his amusement. “Big brother?”

Friday picked up a second plate, piling it with pancakes before smiling back at him. “When I came online and asked you about JARVIS that is what you referred to him as. And he does not mind.”

“Indeed I don’t, little sister Friday,” chimed in the AI and Tony couldn’t help a little chuckle as he sat down on the breakfast corner.

Still a part of him ached violently at the thought of future him having lost JARVIS. 

Shy of getting rid of the scepter itself, he had done everything to guarantee the future Friday came from wouldn’t come to pass. The night before he had created plenty of safeguards around the AI and put them in place in the case that whatever energy space voodoo whatever that resided in the scepter managed to break free. He was about 97.2% sure that even if it managed to break free JARVIS would survive, but he did not like that 2.8% chance.

He pushed those thoughts away once more and focused on Friday in front of him. She was still looking at him every couple of minutes, as if she wanted to reassure herself that he was not about to disappear from her sight, but the majority of her attention was on the plate in Tony’s hands.

Normally, someone watching him eat with such an intensity meant Clint had managed to get into his food and was trying to ‘prank him’, but whereas the archer would stare at him with an impressive poker face, Friday was scrutinizing his actions mostly.

Which made sense. There was a difference between watching him eat as an AI, observing YouTube videos that showed you how to prepare food, and doing it yourself. While she had snacked on a couple of crackers the day before, she hadn’t actually eaten yet. Nor did she know how she should be eating.

So he pretended not to notice the way she was imitating every one of his movements to an almost scary degree of accuracy. 

He used the fork to cut the pancakes and she did the same. He blew on them to make sure it wasn’t too cold, and she did the same. He dipped a strawberry in the maple syrup, and she dipped her strawberry in the maple syrup.

That was not going to work in the grand scheme of things. She clearly had the ability for rational thought, as did any of his AIs, and clearly was advanced enough to make her own decisions - like when he had offered her to make a choice pertaining her name.

But for some reason she seemed more interested in imitating his actions than making her own choices. 

“Sir,” came JARVIS’ voice and both he and Friday inclined their heads to the side, as he always did when the AI called to his attention. Imitation yet again.

“Yes, J?”

“The documents you have requested have been sent to you by Mr Hemming. The clothing for you, little sister Friday, have just arrived at the Tower and will arrive through Sir’s personal elevator. Your identity as Friday Anastasia Stark will be officially set up by this point tomorrow, and the materials you asked for are already present in Sir’s workshop. The only thing that was missing is the EPS sheets but they are in Doctor Banner’s lab. He has agreed to give them to Sir, as he does not need them.”

“You told him?” questioned Friday, voice sharp and Tony raised an eyebrow, surprised by her tone.

“Of course not,” answered JARVIS voice just as sharp and whew. Okay.

“Why are we kicking my Brucie Bear out of the club?” asked Tony, making sure there was no hint of condemnation in his voice, just interest and slight confusion.

He had, of course, noticed Friday’s micro reactions when the Avengers were mentioned. And he was also aware, somewhat, that the only member of the Avenger with enough brains to possibly create a body and with some knowledge of biology was Bruce.

But with the way she reacted at his name, it was unlikely that he had any hand in her creation.

Which begged the question, “Are we planning on letting the anyone know of your arrival in the 21st Century?”

Friday controlled her expression this time. “We can tell the Iron Fam.”

Tony blinked at her. When she simply stared back, he shook his head again. “The what now?”

“It’s what Pe- it’s what we called our team/clique. You know... you, Boss Lady, Colonel Rhodey, Mister Happy, Pet- and a couple of others. Plus the bots,” she smiled sheepishly. “But we didn’t start that until 2016.”

Something that wasn’t quite anxiety was churning in his stomach. Sure, Iron Fam was cute, but... “What happened to the Avengers?”

Again, Friday controlled her expression. She let go of the utensils in her hands and put her hands in her lap, stilling them before focusing back on him. “There is some information regarding you that some members of the Avengers are keeping to themselves. It is... sensitive information that they have no right to. We know for sure that one of them knows, one is highly suspected to know since they were together at the time, and two could know but we do not know for sure cause you never investigated. The only person we are sure never knew anything pertaining this is Kin- Prince Thor.”

Tony pushed his plate away from himself, a strange sense of foreboding filling him. “What is it?”

Friday hesitated this time. “Boss, I do not want to be like them, truly. But when you discovered the secret, last time, due to the circumstances, you were not able to think properly or handle it in a practical way. I know you won’t react that same way this time, but I think it would be better if we waited for Colonel Rhodey, Boss Lady and Mr Happy to arrive.”

Like the day before, a part of Tony wanted to tell her to get on with it and explain it to him right this instant. But the other part of him knew that in the future she was from, she had been his AI. She had seen everything he felt, had analysed every data regarding him and the way he thought/resolved situations. 

He didn’t trust easily, so he wouldn’t say he trusted Friday. But she was one of _his_ , in the way JARVIS, DUM-E and the other bots were. And he knew he had programmed them with one main feature: be his friend, be his ally, be his assistant... be his.

Which meant he didn’t trust her 100% but her base code was his love for her and that’s how his AIs were born.

“That bad, uh?” he finally asked, appetite gone.

Friday looked away from him and he nodded to himself, standing back up again. “Alright. Let’s get into the lab and start working on that container for the scepter. And tell me a little bit about those cool glasses you were wearing yesterday, cause I know Stark Tech when I see it and those things might not exist yet, but they just _oozed_ Stark Tech.”

* * *

Stephen did not trust Loki as far as he could throw him - and with how tired he was right now, that wasn’t very far - but he straightened up, glaring ever so slightly at the Trickster.

“Very well. But how exactly do you expect us to convince past you?”

Loki looked at him like he was stupid, and rolled his eyes, extending an empty palm towards them. Then there was a slight sizzle of light, and a pendant rested on it.

Dimensional magic and Aesir seidr were different types of energy, but Stephen could still make out the power of seidr hidden in the small amulet attached to the necklace. It was...

“Pure seidr,” he said and Loki gave him a regal half nod.

“Indeed,” he said, moving next to Friday. 

She was not his real daughter, and knowing future versions of her was not the same as knowing _this_ version of her, but Stephen could not help but move closer to her, keeping Loki in his direct line of vision.

Neither the mage nor the half AI paid any attention to his actions though, Friday raising her neck and allowing him to clasp the necklace around her throat.

Loki did not step away from her once it was clasped, instead lifting the pendant with one finger and staring at it. “I made this with my mother when I was younger,” he explained, expression blank. “It is unique, not only for the way the charm is made, but also because no one’s seidr is the same. When you arrive and my other self finds you, he’ll know you are not to be harmed once he sees that.”

Finally he let go of the charm, taking one step away from her and Stephen relaxed ever so slightly. Friday had not even appeared concerned by him intruding in her personal space, which she probably hadn’t even realised was a thing to be concerned about.

God knows Tony only cared about personal space when he was around people he didn’t like.

~~Hadn't cared about personal space in that spaceship~~

“How should she contact your past self once she arrives in the past?” he forced out, shaking off thoughts and memories (or visions?) of Tony.

“When will she arrive?”

“November 2015,” said Friday, before Stephen could speak.

He raised an eyebrow. “I was thinking May 2016. That’s when the fight with Dormammu happens, and if you arrive then-”

“No, that is too late. November 2015 means HYDRA has mostly been eradicated and the Avengers have the Mind Stone. If I arrive before Ultron, then I have a chance of stopping him from being activated, which means more time before the Accords inevitably happen again.” She glanced up at him. “If I wait for May, the Accords have almost been ratified and then the whole Civil War debacle started. And no amount of foresight can stop it, because the schism was founded with the Fall of Shield and reaffirmed with Ultron.”

Loki nodded, thinking. “And if you try and go back to this Fall of Shield, it’s too far. And the further in the past you go-”

“- the harder things are to control,” finished Stephen, rubbing his head. He remember the memories (the visions) from the future, the guilt the Avengers managed to put on Tony's back and the guilt for Sokovia and Ultron. The pain in Tony’s eyes every time he blamed himself for what happened. “Yeah, okay. November 2015. You know the exact date you need to arrive right?" When she nodded, he turned to Loki. "How does she find you?”

Loki pointed at the still floating Infinity Stones. “With the power coming from these? I’ll find _her._ ” He stood up straighter, cocking his head to the side. "Someone is trying to breach your walls, sorcerer." Green seidr pooled around his hands. “Shall we start?”

Friday looked startled, even as she stood up. “Now?”

“Yes,” said Stephen, letting out a breath. He could sense him now. And while he had a lot of confidence in himself and in his shields, he was not about to risk it. “I probably will recognise my own energy signature in you when you appear, and thus believe you, but just in case.”

He pulled out the watch Christine had given hi, all those years ago, and pretended the gesture was not as symbolic as it appeared to be as he wrapped it around Friday’s wrist. He tapped a small spell of it and the watch changed in shape slightly, Christine's inscription disappearing. He left the crack, though. "Do not come to find me until Dormammu has been dealt with. Last time it happened, Tony’s sensors were able to detect the use of the Time Stone, but he wasn’t able to find me or the other Sorcerers by the time he arrived. The battle of the Hong Kong Sanctum is on the 12th May 2016. If you cannot find me then, you know where I live.”

Friday pressed a finger on the crack of the watch, and then looked back up at him. “That I do doc.” She put Tony’s glasses on, and despite the mismatched clothing, for a second, with her wild brown hair and the confident posture and the sunglasses, she truly looked like Tony Stark’s daughter. "We stop Hela, we save Boss, prepare whoever is there for Thanos and win the first time around. Let’s get into it.”

“Ready, sorcerer?” asked Loki, and for once his voice wasn’t mocking.

Stephen simply closed his eyes, aware that by now Wong, if not the rest of Kamar Taj, probably knew what was going on. And he was just as aware that nothing and no one could stop him from doing this.

He was saving the world in the most selfish way known to man and he did not feel an ounce of regret for it.

~~He'd do it again. And again.~~

~~(Would he do it if Tony had survived?)~~

He felt Loki’s seidr connecting with the dimensional magic he was harnessing and forced a connection between the two of them, like a double circuit of energy. Loki's energy was... almost intoxicating in its power, almost overwhelming, but Stephen had become a conduit for magic the second he had stepped into the Dark Dimension.

He could do this.

~~For Tony.~~

“I call upon the Time Stone,” intoned Stephen, the air around them flashing lime green (memories, visions, forgotten tales, _time_ )( ~~the universe at your fingertips~~ ). He heard a grunt from Loki, but the energy of the Time Stone was familiar, even comforting to him; safe. “Foresee the date in your mind, Friday.”

“I call upon the Space Stone,” intoned Loki, and this time it was Stephen’s turn to feel the pain from the unfamiliar cobalt blue stone (dimensions, planets, forgotten corners, _space_ )( ~~the universe at your fingertips~~ ). Loki steadied their magic, and when he looked at him, his eyes were Tesseract blue. The Tesseract's magic was as familiar to Loki as the Eye's was to Stephen. “Foresee the place in your mind, Friday.”

“Strange! Stop this!” came a voice from beyond the shield he had created. "This is madness!"

It was Wong, Stephen was aware of it. But he was also aware that no matter how strong the older sorcerer was, he was not as strong as Stephen.

Not after Dormammu. Not after Titan.

“I call upon the Power Stone,” intoned the mage and the sorcerer, and Wong’s calls were drowned out by their own screams, the energy of the pulsing purple stone doing its best to disintegrate them even if they weren’t actually wielding it yet.

It was terrifyingly strong, painful 

~~_destruction, rubble, blood, POWER_ ~~

_(the_ ~~_universe at your fingertips_ ~~ _)_

 ~~~~(pain is an old friend)(you will long for something as sweet as pain)

Friday might have screamed too as the two magic users used the Power stone to push her through Time and Space, but Stephen couldn’t have heard or seen.

His own screams were louder than his blood in his ears, and everywhere was purple and blue and green and bright and dark and-

He fell, and then the blue and green portal disappeared, leaving the mage and the sorcerer to collapse on the ground, the Infinity Stones clattering all around them.

Wong was shouting at him, and the Avengers were rushing into the room (where had they come from), and Loki had managed to disappear between the blink of an eye and the other (where did he go), but it didn’t matter.

Friday was gone.

~~(Tony was saved)~~

+++

When the Universe collapsed around them, Stephen was in a cage in Kamar Taj, being surveyed by many other sorcerers.

He was smiling, as they proclaimed him guilty of acting against the Order of Kamar Taj.

He was smiling, as they tried - and failed - to take his relic from him.

He was smiling, as he sensed all the Infinity Stones being returned to their place in time.

He was smiling, as Universe screeched and the cracks in reality appeared all around him.

He was smiling, as their Universe collapsed on itself and was swallowed by the Multiverse.

He was smiling, as he died, wrapped in the Cloak of Levitation.

He was smiling.

And his last thought was _Tony_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey i have a question. should i leave this story at 12 chapters but that means you wont get to see original timeline stephen strange by the end of it, or should i take off the total of chapters and just like... keep going? instead of separating it in different stories?  
> my OG plan was write friday settling up in this timeline as the first story in the series, and then another part that ends with finally meeting stephen strange, and then one other part with stephen strange included  
> should i do that or should i make my chapters longer and not bother with chapter numbers?  
> vote here thanks 
> 
> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2b3dcOo6PfQTHtvcKpzw9mcR6eQ7dEhOq93kkz5dR8UM6rw/viewform


	7. for every reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a remainder  
> everything in this fic is not the 100% truth, nor is it the comic book truth - mostly because I am not a comic book fan  
> mostly it's my own opinions and ideas as well as what i parsed by watching the movies. u dont have to agree with me ofc, but im not gonna change my mind because u think i should have written something different for a particular character or wtv.  
> i /will/ delete the hate jsyk
> 
> also this chapter is slightly filler,,

A plan, decided Friday, was what she needed.

She had tons of information in her mind, information that would help them defeat Thanos - _hopefully_ \- but she needed to put it down on a tablet (she had tried a piece of paper but she found the experience severely lacking).

Boss had retreated in himself after she had given him the schematics and general information regarding how to contain the Infinity Stones, information gathered when he, Rocket and Professor Hulk had created the Iron Gauntlet. The energy readings she had gained from that would help him with creating something else capable of holding them for a period of time.

She had offered to help him recreate it, but he wanted to see if 2015 Tony Stark was as smart as future!Tony Stark.

And from what Friday could see at the moment, he truly was.

She smiled at his focused form and turned her attention back on the tablet Boss had handed her earlier when she had asked. Working alongside Boss had been something Friday had been doing since she was born but this? It was so much more peaceful and nerve wracking. The experience was slightly paradoxical, but she found that she liked it.

There were a lot of players that helped put a stop to Thanos. 

Friday wouldn't be able to formulate a plan on how to handle Thanos and defeat him, but she was the one who had the advantage of knowing the most notable characters who had been in the final battle, as well as their potential power and how useful they'd be when Thanos inevitably came again.

Of course not everyone who was in that final battle would be easy to be found, considering some of them had yet to ‘power up’ or where lightyears away, but it would help to know who was who and when Boss or her could/should come across them. Not that she was planning on giving Boss the list, or at least not the full list.

But it was important they had all the data in case something happened to her memory ~~banks~~ and she forgot important information.

 **Tony Stark - Iron Man** : 2009 to today (November 2015). Genius; pilot and creator of the Iron Man suit. Iron Man suits have incredible firepower and endurance. Iron Man suits able to take down Level 5s. Without the suit, he still has his brain, and is able to create weapons able to defeat Level 5s. Average boxing and hand to hand abilities (to improve). Reduced lung capacity (possible to be improved with Extremis), but high pain threshold. Level: 4. 

**James Rhodes - War Machine** : 2010 to today (November 2015). Air Force Colonel. Above average intellect; pilot of the War Machine suit. Not the creator, but able to conduct minimal repairs on the armour. Without the suit, has high stamina and endurance. Military trained - manage to appoint him as leader of the operations. Has weapons to fight several Level 5s. Level: 4.

**Virginia Potts - Rescue** : Extremis [2013 to today (November 2015)] Rescue (n/a). Average to above average intellect. In the future was the pilot of the Rescue armour, but it does not exist at the moment. In case of emergency the Extremis in her bloodstream could be reactivated, but she would be unwilling to allow this to pass. With Extremis activated, has above average healing rate. Level 1/2.

**Steve Rogers - Captain America** : 2012 to today (November 2015). Super soldier. Has plenty of field experience, but his stamina, endurance and healing factor are not inhuman - simply highly above average. A figure head, able to rally the troops. Potential puppet general. Able to inflict a lot of damage in hand to hand combat. Level: 3.

 **Natasha Romanoff - Black Widow** : 2012 to today (November 2015). Spy; Assassin. Above average intellect (pending a further assessment of her motivations behind Info Dump). Infiltration and manipulation are her main domains, which aren't useful in the battle. Has her own moral code, which is dangerous. Slightly above average healing rate and fight prowess. Very efficient with a high number of weapons and able to figure them out on the fly. Level: 1/2.

 **Clint Barton - Hawkeye** : 2012 to today (November 2015). Spy; marksman; assassin. Relies on one single skill, which is above average. Baseline human and if without arrows or a gun, easily defeated. Level: 1.

**Prince Thor - Thor** : 2010 to today (November 2015). Alien (Aesir). Inhuman healing factor and stamina. Able to survive floating in space without masks or other form of protection. Able to survive the Hulk. The weapon Mjolnir helps him control his power, not the source of it. Flight with Mjolnir. Thanos the only being to have wholly defeated him. Level: 5.

 **Bruce Banner - Hulk** : 2003 to today (November 2015). Genius. So far, shown to be indestructible. Able to use the Infinity Stones without dying. The angrier he gets the stronger he appears to be. Tony Stark in the Hulkbuster armour momentarily stopped him. Fights between Hulk and Thor have been so far inconclusive. Level: 5.

**Prince Loki - Loki** : 2012 to today (November 2015). Alien (Jotunn), raised Aesir. Above average intellect. Has been preparing for the threat of Thanos. Frost powers and magic. Able to survive a smashing from the Hulk. Able to keep up with Thor and the Aesir. Able to shapeshift. Not enough data on his powers to safely assign a level. Possible level: 4/5.

**Sam Wilson - Falcon** : 2014 to today (November 2015). Soldier. Appropriated Stark Industries Search and Rescue falcon tech for himself. Adept at using it and has military training. Without the wings, however, just baseline. Unable to make repairs on the wings himself. Level: 1.

**Wanda Maximoff - Scarlet Witch** : 2015 to today (November 2015). Mental manipulation, neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, self sustained flight. Currently not an ally, in fact very dangerous to Tony Stark. Full powers unknown. Power inhibiting collar able to stop her [schematics _here_ ]. Needs hands to cast her spells. Potential to win against every Avenger if not stopped. Level: 4/5.

 **Pietro Maximoff - Quicksilver** : 2015 to today (November 2015). Increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Currently not an ally, in fact very dangerous to Tony Stark. Full powers unknown. Ways to stop him are unknown [possibility for similar collar to W.M.]. Not impervious to bullets. Level: 3/4.

**Prince T’Challa - Black Panther** : Not officially present until 2016 [potential for an earlier meeting]. Warrior. Prince. Above average intellect. Increased metabolism and strength. Vibranium suit, nearly indestructible - Wakanda has the means to destroy/momentarily incapacitate the suit. Data accumulated from Everett Ross and General Okoye seems to say his powers are not from a super soldier serum. His power can be taken away, but not by any means known. Warrior training very similar to military training. Level: 3/4.

 **General Okoye** : Not officially present until 2016 [potential for an earlier meeting]. Warrior. Increased strength and endurance similar to Natasha Romanoff. Skilled in many different fighting styles. Clad in vibranium weapons. Military/warrior training. Level: 2.

**James Barnes - Winter Soldier** : alive in 2015. Assassin; sniper; super soldier. Has plenty of field experience - unclear if James Barnes and the Winter Soldier have the same abilities or if they are even the same person. Stamina, endurance and healing factor are not inhuman - simply highly above average. Has trigger words in his brain that can turn him into a killer machine, therefore dangerous to Tony Stark. Not much data gathered on him. Seems loyal to Steve Rogers. Level: 3.

**Peter Parker - Spider Man** : alive in 2015 - has very recently or will very soon become Spider Man. Teenager. Genius. No field experience, but must be left on his own devices so that he can develop some confidence in his skills. Stamina, endurance, strength and healing factors are almost inhuman. Giving him a suit increases his survival, but does not _need_ one to be great. Likely to develop a strong bond with Tony Stark. Level: 4.

**Stephen Strange - Dr Strange** : Not officially present until May 2016. Genius. Sorcerer; doctor. Abilities hard to categorize but include reality manipulation and space/time manipulation. Sustained flight (Cloak of Levitation). Able to use the Time Stone [Infinity Stone]. Full extent of powers unknown. Future Stephen Strange was loyal to Tony Stark; unknown if the same will happen with current. Level: 4/5.

 **Wong** : alive in 2015, not officially present until May 2016. Sorcerer. Similar abilities to Doctor Strange. Full extent of powers unknown. Possible Level: 4.

**Scott Lang - Ant Man** : Not present until March 2016. Average to above average intellect. Pilot of the Ant Man suit. Able to do minor repairs on the suit, but not able to recreate it. Loyal, but easily led astray. Impressionable. Without the suit still high level of intelligence, and very basic training. Level: 1. 

**Hope Van Dyne - Wasp** : Not officially present until March 2016. Above average intellect. Pilot of the Wasp. According to Lang, able to fully recreate the suit. Without the suit, baseline with high intelligence and above average fighting knowledge/instincts. Level: 1/2.

**Peter Quill - Starlord** : 2014 to today (November 2015) according to Rocket [Rocket Raccoon, Guardian]. Guardian of the Galaxy. Half Human half alien. Space bandit. Pilot. Has weapons not heard of on Earth. Trained as a ‘Ravager’ since childhood. Not enough data on him. Possible level: 1/2.

 **Gamora** : 2014 to today (November 2015) according to Rocket [Rocket Raccoon, Guardian]. Died in 2017. Guardian of the Galaxy; assassin. Alien (Zehoberei). Space bandit. Aware of the position of the Soul Stone. Raised and trained by Thanos. No data on her. Possible level: inconclusive.

 **Groot:** 2014 to today (November 2015) according to Rocket [Rocket Raccoon, Guardian]. A walking alien tree capable of semi human speech. Space bandit. Accelerated growth. Possibly immortal unless burnt to ash. Possible level: inconclusive.

 **Rocket Raccoon - Rocket** : 2014 to today (November 2015) according to Rocket [Rocket Raccoon, Guardian]. Guardian of the Galaxy. Genetically enhanced raccoon. Space bandit. Suspected genius, or above average intelligence. Able to create and master weapons incredibly fast. Possible level: 2.

 **Drax - Drax the Destroyer** : 2014 to today (November 2015) according to Rocket [Rocket Raccoon, Guardian]. Guardian of the Galaxy. Alien (Kylosian). Space bandit. Above average strength. ‘More brawn than brain’ (according to Nebula). Possible level: 2.

 **Mantis** : 2014 to today (November 2015) according to Rocket [Rocket Raccoon, Guardian]. Guardian of the Galaxy. Alien (race unknown, bug like appearances). Powerful emphatic abilities. Able to subdue Thanos for over a minute. Able to read other people’s feelings and altering them but needs touch to accomplish this (according to Tony Stark). Possible level: 2.

**Nebula** : 2014 to today (November 2015) according to Rocket [Rocket Raccoon, Guardian]. Artificially enhanced Alien (Luphomoid). Affiliated with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but not a member. Assassin; trained by Thanos and not as strong as Gamora. Mechanical parts mean higher endurance and stamina. Healing factor unknown because of too many mechanical parts; high endurance. Developed relationship with Tony Stark, but circumstances unlikely to happen again. Possible level: 3.

**Carol Danvers - Captain Marvel** : 1995 to today (November 2015). Air Force Captain. Pilot. Has plenty of field experience. Superhuman endurance, stamina, strength and healing factor. Self sustained flight. Photon blasts from fists. Full extent of powers unknown, only that they come from the Space Stone. Military trained. Went toe to toe with Thanos - possibly would have beaten him if he did not have the Power stone [Infinity Stones]. Familiar with Tony Stark and James Rhodes. Fury has the means of contacting her when the time comes. Level: 5.

Friday nodded at the screen, double checking what she had written. There were too many inconclusive and unknowns in her opinion, but gathering and analyzing data had always been her job. Making leaps and connection had been Boss’.

At least, thanks to the many plans they had made in the Compound right after the snap and the final battle she had _some_ data on the Infinity Stones too. And thanks to the Time Heist, she also knew exactly where each of the Infinity Stones were.

 **Space Stone:** Currently on Asgard, will remain until 2017 with the escape of Hela. Then will be in Loki’s hands.

 **Mind Stone:** Currently on Earth. Will leave in a few days with Thor: quiz Thor on where he means to take it before he does so.

 **Time Stone:** Currently on Earth. With the masters of Kamar Taj. Will be detected in May of 2016.

 **Power Stone:** Currently on Nova. Was there as far as ‘early 2018’. Unknown when Thanos was able to collect it. Must be retrieved as soon as possible, or guarded more heavily.

 **Reality Stone:** Currently on Knowhere with the Collector. Thanos will gain it in 2018 between the arrival of Ebony Maw on Earth and his own arrival on Titan. Unknown how.

 **Soul Stone:** Currently on Vormir. Gamora the only other person who knows its whereabouts.

“Hey, Fri, want lunch?” called Boss, and Friday actually startled.

The man was looking at her with a raised an eyebrow, obviously amused by her reaction. 

“W-What?”

“Lunch,” he repeated, shaking a bag of mini sandwiches that Friday had not even noticed until now. “I brought a variety so that you can get accustomed to the different flavours and choose what you like.”

Choice.

It was such a confusing concept. When she had been just an AI, all her choices were based on probability and the information Boss had inputted in her before her activation. It was simple or straightforward: extrapolate and make hypotheses based on previous data.

But in her human form it was much more complicated. It was easy simply copying what Boss did in front of her: Boss had been human for forty years now, so he wouldn’t led her astray on this. But it wasn’t making a choice. Imitation was the highest form of flattery, but it was not sustainable in the long run.

“How far along are you?” she asked, opening the vitals feed and double checking it as she followed Tony outside the workshop. “I didn’t notice you leaving.”

“Pretty far, I think. I should be able to finish it in a couple of hours, and yeah, I noticed you were pretty focused. What were you working on?”

When she looked up at him, he looked mostly curious, not likely to press too much on in despite his obvious interest. “Cataloguing data. I put down the names of all the players in the final battles and collected information regarding their skill levels and fighting abilities. I will eventually show you,” she said, smiling a little when he whooped, “But some of them have not yet ‘powered up’. And some of them I am not sure how we would be able to make contact with.”

 _And some of them I don’t even know if you’d be willing to work with_ , she thought, but she didn’t say it out loud.

~~At least she hoped he wouldn't force himself to work with them.~~

“That’s valid,” acknowledged Boss, as the doors of the elevator opened up. “And then there is the matter of who we can tell- what the _fuck_.”

Friday nearly crashed against him as he stopped abruptly, his body tensing as if in preparation of a fight.

She looked over his shoulder and also tensed slightly at the figure in front of them. A woman, of unquantifiable age, bald and wearing yellow monk clothing. She was standing close to the window, giving her back to them, but even without seeing her in the face - or having ever seen her before - Friday knew exactly who she was.

“JARVIS,” called Boss, voice tight with fury.

His vitals were showing high stress.

“I am here, Sir. My deepest apologies, I was unable to inform you of her arrival,” said her big brother, sounding more annoyed than actually pissed or afraid. Boss’ shoulders lost some of their tenseness but he did not relax. “She says that she is not here to cause any harm, simply to satisfy her own curiosity.”

The woman turned at that, eyes sliding over Tony and focusing on Friday. “Uh. That is interesting. It’s faint, but I can still sense the stones in you.”

“Who the fuck are you?” demanded Boss, putting Friday more firmly behind himself.

Which was touching, but served to remind her how unequipped she was to protect Boss in this new body. As an AI, she could have at least pointed a couple of weapons at her already, but as a human, she could do nothing.

“I am-”

“The Ancient One,” said Friday, bringing the attention back to herself and standing beside Tony instead of behind him. “A Sorcerer and Master of the Mystic Arts.”

The woman regarded her with even more fascination, but did not take a single step towards them. Which did not mean much: she had been Stephen Strange and Wong’s teacher and both of them were a level 4 at the very minimum. She could very possibly be a level 5.

“Interesting. What future do you come from, Miss Stark?” she asked, and Boss tensed all over again.

Friday hesitated for a second before shifting the tablet in her arms and wrapping her hands around his currently naked wrists - she needed to get Boss working on the wrists gauntlets asap. “I cannot tell you this.”

The Ancient One straightened up, and the air around them seemed to fizzle with energy that was as sharp as the one who had sent her in the past. “You can’t?” she asked, and her voice felt heavier against the air.

Boss was even more tense, and she could almost feel as JARVIS prepared Boss' suit for attack/protection.

And yet, Friday was not afraid of her. “No. I cannot.”

For a second, even JARVIS seemed to be holding a breath he did not need.

And then, like nothing, the energy fizzled out and the Ancient One smiled. “Very, very interesting indeed." She studied Friday carefully, head tilted to the side. "Just tell me this one thing: is my successor a good man?”

Friday had pushed the thought of her other father in a hidden corner of her mind that she did not frequent, after arriving back in time. Sure, she kept the watch he had given her on her wrist, but she did not think about him more than she had to.

She was unsure of what exactly she felt for the man who had seemed to be in love with Tony Stark and gave her this chance at happiness again. On one hand, she had hated him for being the reason Boss was gone. On the other hand, he truly seemed to believe he had not had any other choice, and Boss had not been _forced_ to snap his fingers. He had decided to do so himself. 

On top of that, he had clearly been mourning Boss enough that he had decided to literally turn the hands of time backwards and sent her to him. Given her a chance to be with him once more.

Back when they had come back from their time heist, Professor Hulk had told them that the Ancient One had claimed Stephen Strange would be 'the best of us'.

She had many adjectives and names for one Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange, but she wasn’t sure 'good man' was one of them.

“He is a good - an _amazing_ sorcerer,” she finally said, and neither Boss nor the Ancient One missed the wording. "He died to save the world, more than once." Boss’ eyes narrowed slightly, but the Sorcerer seemed pleased (what a grim think to be happy about).

“Thank you. I trust him - and you - to know what you’re doing,” she finally said, and Friday did not respond. What could she say? That they were figuring it out as they went? That would probably not go so well. “Have a nice day. Mr Stark, Miss Stark,” finished the Ancient One, giving them a slight nod before turning around once more.

“Now wait a minute,” started Boss, but she had disappeared between a blink and the other in a shimmer of orange sparks. “What the fuck.”

Friday did not bother trying to explain something she had never understood in the first place, and instead turned to him once more. She was still holding onto his arm, and she did not let go, voicing the thought she had had since she had arrived back in the past and realised that there wasn’t much she could do now that she wasn’t an AI. Realised that she couldn't protect Boss. “Boss. I want to build my own suit.”

Boss stared at her in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we go. Next chapter: tony finds out the truth pew pew!!
> 
> im biased and im not even gonna pretend im not - hence the unreliable narrator tag. Personally I believe loki, wong and stephen are all level 5s, but Friday has not seen them in actions yet so she can't fully say for now  
> i also think carol danvers is the most powerful character in the mcu and no, i will not listen to criticism in this particular regard
> 
> how is friday like less than a week old and already has daddy issues omg  
> friday: that awkward moment when your maybe stepdad's teacher asks if your stepdad, who basically sent ur dad to his death but felt so bad he broke the laws of the universe to send u back in time and save him, asks u if he is a good man
> 
> competent tony taking notes every time friday says something about the future and trying to solve the puzzle is basically i-am-not-insane.jpg
> 
> so im stuck at a particular point in this fic and i was wondering if u guys could help me by voting for a bunch of things? 
> 
> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeQmlHpj5xfbzKPC6RT0xTpH8KrvACz1jATI021dcRQvFTtw/viewform
> 
> EDIT: Yeah okay I'm moderating comments because some of yall can't behave  
> This is a fanfic people, these are just my opinions absolutely nobody if forcing you to agree with me this is just what I want in my fic and if I consider carol the most powerful character in the mcu, I'll write it that way, period. idc if "actually wandavision shows that wanda is more powerful" or "x and y are more powerful than her" IDC!!! I REALLY DONT!!!! so I'm locking the doors 
> 
> sorry for the rant but some of the comments I received and deleted really make me want to just stop this fic cause my god


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